Solo
by lost-starwars
Summary: "Are you sure you want to do this? Raise a child, have a baby, in the middle of a war?" Leia didn't have to stop to think. "Yes."
1. Chapter 1

Hi everyone my name is Haylie and this is my first fanfic. It takes place for the most part in between ESB and ROTJ. Its about how Leia copes with being pregnant during a galactic civil war without Han, it's not a story about trying to find Han. I know that the generally accepted time frame for how long Han and Leia were on the Falcon is about forty days, but I changed that to sixty for this story. So thats really it for now. Enjoy the story and comments are always appreciated. May the force be with you!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars. That's probably a good thing.

Chapter 1

Realizations

One week post ESB

Leia stumbled backwards. Struggling to walk, kiss, and take Han's clothes off all at the same time. Finally, they tipped backwards onto Han's bunk. Their mouths met again in a fury of tongue, lips, and passion.

Leia pushed Han back a bit, just enough to grab the end of his shirt and pull it over his head. "Han-"

Leia woke with a start, throwing the sheets of her bunk out of the way as she made a dash for the 'fresher. She made it just in time to empty the contents of her stomach into the toilet.

 _Must be the grief,_ she thought to herself. It had happened to her quite a bit after Alderaan.

* * *

As Leia walked into the High Command meeting she prepared herself for what she was going to be asked. She'd been gone for sixty days with no word. Everyone had thought she was dead. The only good thing about this was that Luke was going to be there with her, explaining what happened to him and how he lost a X-wing.

Leia purposefully sat herself in between General Rieekan and Luke, distracting herself with her datapad until the meeting began.

A few minutes later, Mon Mothma finally entered the room and started.

"Commander Luke Skywalker, you are here because of your temporary absence from duty and the loss of a X-wing, correct?" Mon questioned, she had remained standing. To intimidate, Leia thought.

"Yes, ma'am." Luke's voice had a slight nervous waver to it, he had just been let out of the Medical Frigate when some Ensign had dragged him here.

"Where did you happen to be during those sixty-two days following the Battle of Hoth?"

"I was training to be a Jedi."

Luke was being elusive, doing his best to give as little information as he was able to, Leia noticed. That was unusual, he normally offered up all the details he had.

"Do you wish to tell us where or with whom?" Mon prompted, obviously having noticed the same thing.

"No, ma'am. For the safety of everyone involved I would like to keep that information to myself." He flinched as if expecting to be verbally reprimanded.

"Very well then." Mon continued. "Now onto the topic of the X-wing."

Luke drew in a deep breath, the tension left his shoulders, he could be more free with how he spoke now. "Once I arrived on Cloud City, I was quickly engaged by Imperials and eventually by Darth Vader." Luke stopped himself with a breathy laugh. "That's how I lost this." Luke said, flexing his artificial hand. "I escaped Vader by falling to the bottom of the city and hanging on a weather vane until the Falcon arrived."

Mon nodded and typed something on to her datapad before turning her attention to Leia. "Princess Leia, you, like Commander Skywalker, were gone for sixty-two days. Unlike the Commander we have no information on where you were during your absence. The bit of information we received before you dropped off the grid was a comm message from Captain Solo."

"I was on the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, C-3PO, and Captain Solo. We were stuck at sublight speed as the Falcon's hyperdrive was damaged. Bespin was the closest, potentially friendly place nearby." She explained, there was no waver to her voice, she would not be intimidated.

"What did everyone on the Falcon do during this time?"

Leia sucked in a quiet breath in between clenched teeth. What did she say to that? Did she lie or worse did she tell the truth? That she spent the majority of the time in Han's bunk.

Luckily, Mon continued. "Did Captain Solo decide to stop at a planet and get supplies?"

"No ma'am." Leia drew in a breath before continuing. "It took sixty days to get to Bespin, one night in Cloud City, and then one day to rendezvous with the fleet."

"And where did Captain Solo disappear to?"

She said it so flippantly, so uninterested, that Leia's temper flared violently. She mostly calmed herself before she began to speak, but Luke could still tell she was angry. "Han," Leia started, throwing the formality of Captain Solo away and making it clear that she wasn't just reporting the loss of a contractor, but of someone very important to her. "Was captured by Lord Vader, tortured, frozen in carbonite, then handed over to the bounty hunter Boba Fett." The slight shake to Leia's voice was heard by everyone.

"That is unfortunate Princess. I'm sorry for the loss of your close acquaintance. Now, for the growing unrest on the planet-" Mon continued with meeting.

Leia dropped her head to stare into her lap and tuned out.

* * *

Once the meeting was over Leia took off in a brisk walk, not stopping to talk to anyone. Luke quickly followed on her heels and ran to catch up with her in one of the halls of the giant Mon Calamari Cruisers. Finally catching up with her and gently grabbing her arm.

"Leia, what's wrong?" The worry was evident in his voice.

"Nothing, Luke." Leia said, trying to dismiss him.

"What happened during those sixty days? You seem quieter. Like you're…" He searched for a word besides hurt, as that would surely send Leia storming off, effectively ending the conversation. "Less like yourself."

"I could say the same thing to you." She shot back, glancing at him through narrow eyes and gently pulling her arm away before beginning to walk again, but this time at a normal pace.

Luke caught up with her before starting to speak again. "Leia, you just seem sad."

She bit back her angry response. This was Luke. He just wanted to think that she was okay. "I'm sorry, Luke… I'm fine, just distracted."

Apparently that was enough for Luke. His face softened and he reached out to put his hand on her shoulder again. "Good, that's good. I'm always here for you, Leia." And with that he turned and walked away.

Han would've stayed.

* * *

The next morning, Leia woke up from a restless sleep and vaulted herself out of bed and towards the fresher to throw up. Once her stomach was empty, Leia slowly stood up and moved towards the sink, glancing towards the calendar everything clicked.

When was the last time she'd had her… She'd been throwing up frequently… Everything clicked.

She wasn't… She couldn't be… Pregnant.


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you to all the reviews the story received! They honestly all help so much! Okay, so I just wanted to put this _**warning**_ _ **here**_.  Leia has a bit of bleeding in this chapter but its just decidual bleeding. **Everything turns out fine, I promise.**

* * *

Chapter 2

Fear

Eight weeks pregnant

Leia's eyes remained trained on Han's face. He stayed calm despite the impending doom, but Leia had watched the way he walked towards the carbon-freezing chamber, the way he turned in slow, complete shock. The thought of losing him made Leia want to scream, she'd just got him. She'd just allowed herself to love him in the complete reckless way that she had loved before Alderaan.

The realization dawned on her that he was trying to stay calm for her. She couldn't help it any more. She took a step forward, not to run for Han, fighting would be useless, but to be just that much closer to him.

"I love you." Leia had never said it to him in front of so many people and now here she was declaring it in front of Darth Vader.

"I know." His face remained sullen despite his attempt at their joke. There was the slightest twitch at the corner of his mouth, but it would never transform into that full face wonder of a smile that stole her breath. She briefly remembered the first time he'd said that to her, but it did nothing to improve her mood.

Their eyes were locked as he was lowered into the carbon freezing chamber and-

Leia woke up and shot out of bed to run for the 'fresher. She was used to this routine by now and while the term morning sickness implies that you're only sick in the morning, Leia had quickly found that to not be true. She was having a difficult time hiding it from High Command, but so far she had received nothing more than a few suspicious glares while running into meetings a few minutes late.

Leia still had yet to tell anyone but that was going to change soon, today. She had decided that with Han still gone Chewie deserved to know first. He was Han's best friend, his brother in everything but blood. He deserved to be the one she told first.

* * *

Leia boarded the Falcon, not quite sure why she was so nervous. Chewbacca was never anything less than supportive of them. She was sure he would be there for her every step of the way.

"Chewie." Leia called out on the eerily silent Falcon. Usually there was a stream of Corellian curses coming from the newest broken part or a noisy game of sabacc with the Rogues coming from the galley.

Chewie came slowly ambling from the direction of the cockpit. [Hello, Princess.]

Leia had tried multiple times with no avail to get him to call her Leia, he always told her that her name didn't have a translation into his language. So it alternated between Princess and Little Princess.

"Hi Chewie." Leia flashed him a smile that she hoped masked her nervousness.

[Do you need something?] There was a slight mischievous tone to the second sentence.

Leia slightly nodded. "I need to tell you something."

Chewie quickly bared his teeth in what she recognized as a wookiee before trying to cover it up, [what is it?] He warbled innocently.

Leia narrowed her eyes in suspicion, he knew. "How long?"

Chewie let out a quick bark of laughter, finally allowing himself to smile. [A month.]

Leia's face fell into an incredulous look, "how? I've only known for a month!"

Yet another quick bark of laughter followed by, [I could smell it on you.]

Leia scrunched up her nose. "I could've lived without knowing that." She decided.

Chewie warbled out something Leia didn't quite catch before pulling her into a surprisingly gentle hug. [Cub would've been so happy, Princess. So, incredibly, happy.]

And with that Leia buried her face into Chewie's fur to hide her tears.

* * *

Later that day Leia found herself running down the halls of the Mon Cal Cruiser, tears running down her face for a completely different reason. Blood.

She had been using the 'fresher when she had noticed a spotting of blood in her underwear. She hadn't been able to think. She just ran to the Medical Bay. _This can't be happening._ Running through her head.

Once she was finally there and through the doors she saw Luke, who was there for the doctors to see how he was doing with his artificial hand.

When he saw Leia, with tears running down her face, his blood went cold. _She is really scared_ , was the only thought that went through Luke's mind as he yelled for a doctor and ran over to Leia.

"Leia! Leia! What's wrong?" Luke questioned frantically, trying to see if she was injured.

"Blood... there was blood in... baby..." She choked out, barely able to breathe through the tears, let alone speak. _This can't be happening._

Luke carefully reached out with the force and barely brushed her emotions, there was so much fear and sadness that he physically recoiled.

A doctor ran over to the pair and quickly assessed the situation. "Hi, Princess Leia. My name is Dr. Randar, how about we take you back to one of the private rooms and see what's going on. How's that sound?" She said, attempting to calm the princess. She was a tall green twi'lek with long lekku that fell over her shoulders.

Leia nodded and followed the doctor to a private room, trying not to let her legs give out under her. When Luke tried to follow, the doctor cut him off with the "family only" rule and closed the door.

"Okay, Princess Leia, what seems to be the problem?" She asked, once she had her seated on the examination table. She was simultaneously terrified and surprised that Princess Leia was sitting on an exam table as her patient, crying. This is not how she expected the day to go.

"Blood… baby… scared…" She gasped out. She wasn't sobbing, she seemed beyond that, but her words were still coming out as a jumbled mess and Dr. Randar could only grasp certain words.

She blinked slowly, thinking that she misunderstood. "You're pregnant and now you're bleeding and you're scared you're going to lose the baby." She spoke slowly giving her time to interrupt if she was completely wrong.

She nodded.

Again, not what she expected. "Okay, so here's the plan. I'm going to get the equipment for the portable ultrasound from the other room and while I'm gone…" She trailed off reaching behind herself and grabbing a hospital gown, "you'll put this on. Sound like a plan?"

The Princess nodded slowly, tears still spilling silently down her face.

"Look, Princess, if there is something wrong I'm going to fix it. Everything is going to be okay." She said, making sure to catch her eyes before getting up and going to get the ultrasound.

* * *

A few minutes later, Leia lay on the examination table numb to the world. Praying to all the gods she knew of, _to the force_ for this baby, for her and Han's baby to be okay.

When Dr. Randar re-entered the room she instructed her to lift up her hospital gown and lay down. She immediately complied. "This may be a little cold." She murmured, as she applied the gel to the Princess's stomach.

After a moment a strong, quick thudding echoed through the room.

"That's your baby's heartbeat."

Leia felt relieved to her soul. Her baby is okay. _Thank you,_ she prayed to whatever higher power had helped her. _Thank you, thank you, thank you._

"Do you want to see?" Dr. Randar whispered.

Leia looked at the screen, blinking through her tears and nodding.

"Your baby is right here." She said, pointing to a little blip on the screen. "You seem to be about eight weeks along. Does that sound about right, Princess?"

"Dr. Randar, you're asking me questions about my sex life. Do you really think you need to call me princess?" Leia joked with a shaky laugh, finally able to speak in complete, coherent sentences. "Yes, that sounds about right. If everything is okay then why am I bleeding?"

"It's just a bit of decidual bleeding, Leia." She said, flashing her a quick, calming smile. "It's fairly rare, but also more common than you would assume."

"Thank you, so much." Leia breathed out, thoroughly relieved.

"It's no problem, ma'am."

* * *

As soon as Leia walked out of the Med Bay, Luke flocked to her like a mynock to warmth, pestering with endless questions, not that Leia expected any less from him.

"Leia, what's wrong? You went into that room crying and you came out with the biggest smile on your face." Luke was following her through the halls that led to her cabin.

"I received good news." She allowed herself to tell him, probably should have figured out something else to say.

"What good news?" He questioned eagerly.

Leia hesitated, her room was at the end of the hall, she only had to make it there. Apparently she waited a moment too long because Luke began his barrage of questions again.

Leia finally palmed her door open and practically pushed Luke in.

"After we escaped the Empire on the Falcon we had nearly sixty days of nothing but each other to cure our boredom." She began. "We- I was forced to confront my feelings for Han and for fifty days, it was amazing Luke, I hadn't been that happy in forever."

"What does this have to do with you being in Medical, Leia. You were crying." Luke said clearly confused.

"Yes, Luke, I'm aware." She paused, drawing in a breath. "Luke, I'm pregnant."

"Leia, that's great. That's great!" He exclaimed.

"Thank you." She said, muffled by being pulled into a hug, unable to stop herself from wishing it was Han's embrace.

* * *

Next chapter, Leia tells Mon Mothma and she doesn't take the news as well as Chewie and Luke.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Not Luke's

Twelve Weeks Pregnant

Leia slowly opens her eyes to meet Han's. They danced between a light green and a kind gold. She slowly leans forward to give him a soft kiss before resting her head on his shoulder with every intention of falling back asleep.

He shifts slightly to wrap his arms around her, "I love you." Han whispers into her hair.

Leia didn't feel the galaxy stop spinning. She didn't feel some explosion of happiness knowing that he loves her, she already knew. "I love you, too." Leia whispers back, and even though it's their first time saying it it feels easy, natural, permanent.

"I know."

Leia woke to the noise of her comm going off, insisting that it's time she get up and go to the High Command meeting.

Leia sat up slowly, no longer rushed by morning sickness to get to the 'fresher. She stood and slipped into one of Han's old shirts that she stole before Chewie and Lando had left on the Falcon to search for Han. She made some effort to make it look more her size by tucking the excess material in and throwing a big jacket on, but it didn't really work and Leia found herself not caring. She pulled her hair into a quick braid down her back before leaving for the High Command meeting.

* * *

As the end of the meeting was quickly approaching, Leia felt herself grow more nervous. She had already made her decision to tell the council today by letting Mon Mothma know that she had a personal matter to bring up at the end of the meeting, so she had to stick to her guns and push through.

"Now." Mon started, interrupting Leia's train of thought. "The Princess has personal matters that she would like to bring up to the council." She stoically sat down, relinquishing the floor to Leia who stood, her face not even slightly betraying the anxiety that churned just beneath the surface.

"I would just like to inform the council that I am pregnant. I am fully aware that this is not a good time to be pregnant, but nonetheless I am." She paused slightly and lifted a hand to rest on her still flat stomach, a smile spreading over her face. "This baby is loved." She sat down, leaving the floor to whoever wished to brave it.

"Princess," Rieekan began, reaching over to rest a hand on her shoulder. "That's wonderful news." He said, giving her a genuine smile before dropping his hand.

"Leia!" Mon snapped, taken off guard enough to drop formalities. "How could you have been so irresponsible?" Her voice had slowly risen to a volume slightly above what would be considered normal.

"This baby could not have come at a worse time, I will not deny that." Leia made sure to keep her voice level because if she responded to anger with anger this wouldn't have a chance of going well and that was not the way she was raised. She was taught to be diplomatic no matter the situation. "I love this baby and it's father will love it, too. Isn't this baby what we are fighting for? A chance to give the next generation a childhood, a life, free of oppression and the hardships we have all had to face."

She received a few approving nods around the table, all agreeing with her words, none of them happy she was pregnant, as if their opinion meant anything. On the other hand Mon Mothma, the woman who Leia had always looked up to, was still not convinced. "Princess, I'm sure Commander Skywalker will be a good father, but are you sure you want to do this? Raise a child, have a baby, in the middle of a war."

Leia's opened and closed her mouth a few times before she finally managed, "Luke?"

"Yes, Commander Skywalker would surely be a fine father but-"

"Ma'am," Rieekan carefully interrupted before Mon could further elaborate, he obviously understood. "If I may, Commander Skywalker is not the baby's father." He glanced over at Leia to confirm his statement who lightly nodded.

"Then who's is it?" Mon said, her eyes flashing dangerously, as if she already knew.

"Captain Han Solo's." Leia stated, she had finally found her voice and was daring Mon to speak out against Han.

"Princess," Mon was now at the verge of shouting and had risen out of her seat. "How did you find it appropriate to engage in..." All of Mon's years in the senate seemed to begin to fail her at that moment, "such activities with Captain Solo? He was a mercenary who was constantly threatening to leave. Did he trick you or some how take advantage-"

"No!" Leia shouted, so quickly on her feet with her eyes on fire. "He would never do that, never." All her diplomatic training went out the window at the idea that someone thought Han was capable of that. " _Everything_ I did was of my own free will. Han is a good man, a great man! Did you ever stop and think where those anonymous donations were coming from that were always the exact same amount we paid Han. Eventually, he just stopped taking the money." Leia grasped for anyway to get Mon to understand that Han was good in a way that was purely Han. "He saved my life time and again, putting his own on the line at the same time. Sure he complained and bickered along the way, but he never left. Not when he had a thousand opportunities, not after Yavin, not before Hoth, never. Han Solo is a good man and the father of my child. I will not allow you to put him down." Her voice had dropped from shouting to cold, low, and furious, which was some how more dangerous. She looked Mon in the eyes daring her to take another shot at Han.

"You were irresponsible, Leia! Now you are pregnant in the middle of a war of which you are the face of. You have a gigantic bounty on your head and you are now willing to bring a baby into this mess of a galaxy."

"Do you not think that that scares me?" Leia questioned with wide eyes. "I have been at the forefront of this war since I was _nineteen._ The idea of bringing a baby into this terrifies me. I never said this was going to be easy, but I'm a grown woman, Mon. I am fully capable of making my own decisions." And with that Leia turned sharply on her heel and walked out before things got any uglier.

* * *

At about eight o'clock, Luke came knocking at her cabin door. As soon as he was in he turned to face Leia. "What went down at the High Command meeting? Word has it that you stormed out early and later when Mon left she looked pissed."

Leia crossed the room to sit on her bunk and lean her back against the wall while Luke pulled up a chair to sit by her. He was still in his flight suit, so it was obvious he had just came from patrol. "I need to hear what the base gossip mill stirred up first." She said with a tired smile.

"Well," Luke began, leaning back in the chair and grinning. "I heard from Wedge that Mon told you that you were going to have to marry a prince of some planet and you didn't take it well."

"Oh, god." Leia feigned shocked and leaned forward. "Who?"

"I think that they said Prince Isolder of Hapes."

Her nose wrinkled at that. "Hapes? That's far to isolated for me, besides I think having a baby on the way takes you out of the royal marriage market."

"You told them?"

Leia nodded.

Luke's face remained intrigued. "And it didn't go well."

"She thought it was yours." Leia deadpanned.

Luke through his head back in laughter and Leia's lips quirked up in a sleepy smile. "She also insulted Han."

Luke's face immediately fell. "You didn't handle it well." It wasn't a question.

"I just got so angry. I couldn't see. She doesn't know him, how good he is." She dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, she wasn't proud of how she'd let the situation escalate, but she could do nothing about it now.

"Leia, you also have to remember Han can come off a bit rough on the edges."

Leia looked up, eyes flashing. "I'm not blind to his faults."

"I know, just remember next time you see Mon Mothma that she only knows Han by his records and the rumors that ran wild about the two of you on base. He was a smuggler for the Hutts, he has a lengthy record of run-ins with the law. Just remember that's all she knows of him."

Leia silently nodded and laid down, letting Luke know she needed to sleep and closed her eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Safe

Four months pregnant

Leia slowly walked out of the back room of the Medical Bay where she had the ultrasound. She watched as Luke shot to his feet, quickly followed by Chewie.

"Well," Luke questioned eagerly as he took a few steps towards her. "What is it?"

Leia let out a slow breath and smiled at both of the boys, practically begging her for an answer. "It's a girl!" She finally let out, her smile somehow becoming bigger as both Luke and Chewie pulled her into hugs.

"Leia, she's going to be perfect!" Luke exclaimed.

Chewie let out a quick bark of a exhilarated laughter. [Princess, she's gonna be great.]

Leia smiled at the both of them, "I know."

"What do you want to name her?" Luke asked, letting his curiosity change the subject.

"You'll have to wait until after she is born to find out." She remarked coyly, slightly raising her eyebrows at him.

"Do you have a name in mind?"

"I have a few names, but I want to wait until Han is back to fully decide." She had long ago decided to wait until either Han was back or she had to, to make any major decisions that would affect the baby.

Leia was suddenly pulled back into Chewie's chest or more his stomach due to the extreme height difference. [Cub would've loved this, Princess.] He stopped for a moment, trying to choose his words carefully. [If Han is not back for the birth, I will be here for whatever you need, for as long as it takes.]

Leia slowly nodded and slightly turned her face into Chewie's fur, glad that no one around was fluent in Chewbacca's native language, and blinked the tears out of her eyes. She was not alone.

* * *

This time Leia's dream was different. She slowly fell into it and she couldn't wake herself up, not that she wanted to in the beginning.

 _Han's mouth slammed down onto hers as soon and her back touched the bunk, his hand slowly inching it's way under her shirt. Leia reached up and tangled her hands into his hair, dragging them down to his shoulders, inching their way down until finally making contact with the bottom of his shirt before tugging it over his head._

 _The scene suddenly shifted. "I have to, Leia! I don't have another choice." Han was standing in the middle of their cabin, she remembered this fight, it was the worst they'd ever had because it had actually pertained to something important._

 _Even still she felt herself wince as she shot to her feet from the bunk and took a step forward to yell, "I understand you have no choice, but I can help!"_

 _"No, Leia, you can't. You show up on Tatooine with me and Jabba finds out I love you, you will be tortured and killed!" He was begging her to let it go and just enjoy the night._

 _"You don't know that!"_

 _"Yes, I do! I've seen it happen. A guy walks into Jabba's Palace with someone he loves to pay his bounty and next thing you know, the woman has been stripped and put into this humiliating bikini and forced to dance for Jabba while the guy watches, then, once he's tired of her, she's fed to the rancor. I've seen the hell on the guy's face, Leia! I couldn't live with myself if that happened to you."_

 _Leia was suddenly sitting in the cockpit of the Falcon, Han leaning against the controls._

 _"There's no way." He said, leaning forward a skeptical smile on his face._

 _"I'm telling you, I've never had a boyfriend before." Leia answered truthfully._

 _Han furrowed his brow and shook his head. "Nope, you're too good of a kisser."_

 _Leia threw back her head in pure laughter. "I never said I hadn't kissed people before, just that I've never had a boyfriend. I was too busy. Politics and all." Leia shrugged, nonchalantly waving her hand around._

 _Han leaned forward and gave her a skeptical look before shaking his head and giving her that full face smile. That's when everything want downhill._

 _Leia found herself staring at Darth Vader and the Imperial Torture Droid._

 _"I will give you one more chance, Princess." Vader rasped out. "Where is the rebel base?"_

 _Leia stayed silent, she would not allow the rebellion to suffer because she was weak._

 _"As you wish. You may proceed." The last part was directed to the droid as it inched forward and Leia found herself paralyzed by the Force._

 _She tried to fight with everything she had in her. She tried to lunge forward and break the needle protruding from the droid, but she remained hopelessly still. The droid pressed the needle into her neck and injected the chemicals that would give her hell. Then it happened, Leia felt her whole body seize with unimaginable pain, she felt like she was on fire._

 _It started in her neck, running through her blood to her heart, roughly pushing the breath out of her. Then it shot down her spine, slowly working it's way through her entire body until she was consumed by it._

 _Vader let go of her through the force, allowing her to fall to the ground and scream. She screamed so loud that her throat would be sore for weeks. Her vision blurred as she caught sight of the boots of the soldiers that had come in flanking Vader. How could they sit there and watch silent as a nineteen year old was tortured?_

 _That's when Vader forced his way into her mind. "Where is the rebel base." It wasn't a question, it was a demand._

 _She felt him curl his fingers, inflicting as much damage as he could in her mind. She'd be damned if she let him get their position. It would be the end of the rebellion. He drew up memories of her parents and cast them aside like trash, but she kept throwing things at him, anything but the rebellion. Being chased by Winter in the fields behind the palace, the night she got elected, her father telling her about a senator during the time of the republic; her last name had been Amidala._

 _Vader ripped out of her mind. "This interrogation is over." His metallic breathing was the only noise in the room. "Give her another dose of F-27 and then report back to your station." He turned and left the room followed by the soldiers._

 _The droid mindlessly followed instructions and left her to her unimaginable pain._

 _Then, she was dragged to the bridge of the Death Star and was forced to watch as her planet, family, home, everything exploded._

Leia shot up, flailing in her bunk. "Han!" She exclaimed hoarsely. She had grown so accustomed to him being there during those sixty days she still found herself calling for him after bad nightmares. He wasn't there though, she was alone.

Leia stood up, she couldn't stay here, she couldn't, the cabin was suffocating her. She glanced at the chrono. It was two in the morning, _good,_ she thought, no one would see her walking around in one of Han's shirts and sweats.

She quietly slipped out of her cabin and began the long walk to the Falcon. As she guessed she only saw Thane Kyrell, a good soldier, who she knew wouldn't say anything about seeing her at this ungodly hour.

Finally when Leia arrived at the Falcon, she punched in the codes to the loading ramp and slid into her and Han's cabin. She quickly crawled into the bunk and was hit by Han's smell and finally let herself cry. She cried because of her nightmare, because of how much she missed Han, because of how alone she felt, because of her baby girl that she just wanted the best for, for Alderaan, for her parents, for Winter, for the rebellion, for all the soldiers lost in battle, she cried.

Eventually the tears slowed and Leia sat up and stared at her stomach. "Okay, baby girl." She laughed quietly and wiped her tears away. "Your Daddy will call you sweetheart and this is the story of how I met him. It all began when I was caught by the Evil Empire and a sweet farm boy and a stubborn smuggler decided to save me." She paused. "You don't have to worry. The Empire will never hurt you. I'll make sure of it."


	5. Chapter 5

Surprise!

* * *

Chapter 5

Not Alone (maybe)

5 Months

* * *

Leia pulled her shirt down and sat up on the examination table. "How does everything look?"

Dr. Randar glanced down at the datapad before swiveling around in her chair to face Leia. "She looks great, Princess. Around the right size, developing well, heart sounds good. She's healthy."

Leia breathed out a sigh of relief, she hadn't thought anything was wrong, but it was always nice to hear that her baby is healthy. She smiled at the Doctor and nodded her head in thanks.

"Has she been moving a lot?" Randar asked.

"Yes, she's always on the move." She let out a short laugh and ran a hand over her swollen stomach. "It freaked me out the first few times."

Her face broke out in a warm smile. "It does tend to catch first time mothers off guard." The Doctor broke off and let out a breath, her face falling. She had heard the legends of how stubborn the Princess was, tales of her and Captain Solo's verbal brawls were constantly floating around base. All of this giving her reason to dread telling the Princess to do this because if she had to argue with her, she knew she would lose. "Princess, I am going to have to ask you to do one thing for the baby though."

Leia's face fell. "Anything."

There was a fierce motherly love and protection in her voice that the doctor had heard before. "I'm going to need you to gain about five pounds. You were probably underweight going into the pregnancy and I was hoping that your body would catch up naturally, but it hasn't."

Leia drew her eyebrows together in concern and softly clucked her tongue, obviously displeased. "Okay, I will."

The Doctor shot up, eager to get out of there before the Princess decided to change her mind and start yelling. "That's all for today then."

She offered her her hand to help her off the examination table which Leia gladly took while she got down. Randar walked out of the room with a quick, "Have a good afternoon." Over her shoulder.

* * *

Chewbacca had been waiting for her, as usual. She told him that he didn't have to do that, but he insisted, saying that somebody needed to be here for her. It made Leia light up a little inside whenever she saw him there, reminding her subtly she isn't alone.

[How did it go?] Chewie warbled.

"She wants me to gain five pounds." Leia stopped. _Think before you speak, Lelila,_ Leia heard her father chiding in her head.

[Dinner today. On the Falcon.] He ordered.

Leia opened her mouth in protest, she was a grown woman, she can gain five pounds by herself.

[No,] Chewie barked. [Cub will kill me if he gets back and you aren't in perfect health, then he'll try to yell at you. You will be eating on the Falcon four times a week when we are docked with the alliance. Don't even bother arguing, Little Princess.]

Leia blinked. She had forgotten that Chewbacca could be just as stubborn as her and Han when he wanted to be.

"I'll be there."

* * *

Leia huffed as she was shooed away from the kitchen of the Falcon by Chewie and began searching the ship for Luke.

"Hi," she said, entering the bay, slightly surprised at who she found instead.

"Good afternoon, Princess." Lando said, shooting to his feet at the sight of her.

"How have you been?" Leia asked, genuinely curious. Despite the fact that he was searching for Han, she never saw him. Most likely because he believed she was angry at her, which in the beginning she was.

For a second she saw false bravado he continuously presented on Cloud City flicker across his face, before fading away. "Good, and you?"

"Very well. The baby's a girl if you haven't heard yet and very healthy." An awkward silence filled the air and she pursed her lips lightly. "You know I'm not still angry at you."

Lando's eyebrows knit together and he suspiciously nodded his head, "sure, princess."

"No, Lando." She reached forward and grabbed his wrist to ensure she had his attention. "I'm not. I understand why you made that choice." She paused. "When I was on the Death Star, I was taken to the viewing bay to see Alderaan filling the window. They told me to reveal the position of the rebel base or to have Alderaan destroyed. I chose to tell them the rebel base was on Dantooine, which we had abandoned a year before then, but there were still people there, people who I do not know, but lives nevertheless. You chose to give up a few lives to save those of the your people, I understand that." She let go of his wrist and leaned back.

* * *

Dinner went surprisingly well, minus Chewie basically force feeding her extra servings and Luke showing up twenty minutes late.

"Oh, I forgot!" He suddenly exclaimed. "I won't be here next dinner Chewie. I'm going on a mission."

Leia turned to him, a slightly betrayed look passing across her face. "When do you leave?"

He thought for a moment before answering, "tomorrow."

"Luke…" Leia was definitely upset now.

[We'll also be flying out in a few days, Princess. We think we may have a lead.] Chewie wuffed cautiously. It was clear that neither of them had known the other was leaving till then, but it still felt like an ambush. Leia knew, logically, that this was not the case, but she had very little control over her emotions.

The tears welled up in her eyes and she felt anger wash over her at her lack of emotional control. She was vaguely aware of the look of horror that simultaneously passed over all the boys faces.

"Leia…" Luke said gently, sliding over to give her a hug.

Chewie had seen this once before, during those sixty days. Leia had been so frustrated at something that she has begun to cry at dinner. He had watched Han immediately slide over to Leia as if he had done it a thousand times. He'd pulled her into a hug and she had turned into his chest like it was home, easily calming her.

Now, with Luke, Leia stiffened and furiously wiped away her tears. "I'm sorry. I cannot control my emotions and I just feel so useless. I can't fight. I can't look for Han. All I can do is type up mindless reports about cargo all day."

 _The Princess needs Han,_ was all that Chewbacca could think. [There was this one day about a year and a half after Yavin,] Chewie began. [You and Han were arguing, as per usual. Han had gotten you to laugh and you decided that for some reason that was unacceptable so you yelled at him about something stupid and he took the bait. I remember leaving you guys to go work on the ship and about ten minutes later Han storms up the ramp and he begins to smile, Leia, he was beaming like I had rarely seen before. He turns to me and out of the blue, he says, "Did you hear that laugh? It was kriffing beautiful." From that day on it was like he had this mission to hear it everyday, even if it meant that you got angry and yelled at him afterwards, he was going to make you laugh. Everyday he was successful he would come onto the ship afterwards with that smile.]

Leia laughed.

* * *

 _Two weeks later_

 _5 1/2 months pregnant_

Leia woke up to the persistent beeping of her alarm, demanding that she get up and seize the day. She groggily sat up and glanced at the chrono. She was out of her bed in less than a second, a steady stream of Corellian curses flying from her mouth. She had fifteen minutes to get dressed and to the high command meeting.

She grabbed a different shirt that was most likely Han's, she didn't care at the moment and quickly tugged off the shirt she slept in, catching herself in the mirror. Leia turned to get a look at her stomach from the side and let out an involuntary gasp, stretch marks. She felt a slight tug in the back of her mind and suddenly she was standing in a nice apartment, a penthouse really.

Leia saw herself in a mirror. She was still pregnant and examining stretch marks that she knew were difficult from her newly discovered ones. Somehow she knew that she was safe. Thats when she saw him. Han walked up and gave her a hug from behind and in her ear he whispered, "beautiful."

Leia snapped out of it and threw on the new shirt while running to the refresher to do her hair. She seemed to have more of it lately, forcing her to spend even more time doing it, time she no longer had. She dragged a brush through it that caught painfully on knots due to her lack of patience. A pair of scissors caught Leia's eyes and before she could even process what she was doing she grabbed them and cut her hair off slightly below her shoulders, pulling the scissors hastily through her hair until it was all somewhat even.

Finally glad that her hair was decent enough looking to leave her room she went to grab her shoes. Leia pulled at the shoes in vain, she knew that it wasn't going to work. She put off getting new shoes long enough and her feet were so swollen, there was no way she was going to fit.

She angrily pulled on her slippers and ran for the high council meeting.

* * *

When Leia arrived at the conference room she took a moment to compose herself before entering. She was ten minutes late and a mess. Sue took a deep breath before pushing the doors open and walking confidently in.

Leia watched as Rieekan's head swiveled around and as Mon Mothma's jaw dropped, surely because of her hair. She shoved all of it out of her mind and sat down in her chair determined to make a difference in the Rebellion today, however big or small.

* * *

"Leia." Mon Mothma said softly once the meeting ended and Leia was planning on getting out of there as quickly as possible.

"Ma'am." She answered respectfully.

"Would you join me in my office for a few minutes." Leia listened intently, searching Mon's voice for any sign of being upset before nodding.

Together they walked to her office in a tense silence. As soon as they arrived Mon pulled out a chair for Leia and told her to sit while she went to her desk and grabbed a pair of scissors to even out Leia's hair.

"How have you been sleeping Leia? I know that when I was about as far along as you are I had a lot of trouble with staying asleep." She ran a chunk of hair longer than the rest through her fingers, bringing it to a point that was even with the rest before carefully cutting it.

"I can't get comfortable enough to stay asleep for that long." Leia answered truthfully.

"Have you tried putting a pillow under your stomach. It helps support the weight. Also drink chamomile tea. It will help put you to sleep." She stopping trimming her hair for a moment and lightly tapped Leia's shoulder. "If you need anything, don't be afraid to ask for it. You are about to be a mother." Mon paused. "You know I had a son, right?"

"Yes, his name is Jobin, correct?"

"Yes," She confirmed. "He died during the Battle of Hoth."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Leia whispered, caught off guard. "I wasn't aware."

"No, it's okay. You were never really close to him and you were gone following Hoth. What I am trying to say is that it was hard to be a mother, be worried about your child and try to take care of them, during a time of war. And I had a grown man who was fully capable of defending himself and making his own decisions. The reason I reacted so harshly was I couldn't imagine having to go through that with a baby. I'm sorry, Leia."

"Shoes." Leia said in forgiveness.

"Pardon, Princess."

"I need new shoes." Leia said simply, holding up her feet to show her slippers. "My feet seem to have swollen."

Mon let out a genuine laugh. "I can arrange that."

"Thank you."

* * *

A/N: Yeah that thing with Han and the stretch marks was a force vision.


	6. Chapter 6

And my obsession with Han and Leia dancing continues.

* * *

Chapter 6

Shopping

7 ¼ Months

Leia moved to get out of her and Han's bunk on the Falcon. Seemingly brought from her deep sleep by the smell of kaf floating from the galley. Suddenly an arm shot out and wrapped itself around Leia's waist pulling her back into the bunk and flush against a drowsy Han.

"Han!" Leia whined, pushing against his chest. "I'll be right back, I'm just going to get kaf."

Han's grip around her waist tightened. "No."

Leia continued to fight with no avail. Finally, she looked at Han who was stubbornly trying to sleep. She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his lips and pushed back out of Han's arms, rolling off the bunk to her feet.

She saw him lazily open his eyes to look at her, Leia loved how he looked at her. Like she was the only thing in the galaxy, like he would do anything for her. She loved how his eyes turned this light green color and he would give her that smile. The one he was giving her right now. The one she only ever saw him give her. Full face, holding nothing back.

He lightly shut his eyes and muttered, "that's all I wanted."

She quickly pulled on one of his shirts and shot back a playful, "scoundrel," before leaving their cabin.

* * *

Leia woke to the familiar, terrible, sound of her alarm and groaned as she rolled out of bed. She had to meet Chewie, Luke, and Lando at the Falcon, who were taking her shopping for baby supplies on Dantooine. It had taken relatively little convincing for the high council to let them go. There was very little Imperial presence there. They could also tell that Leia was going to go no matter what.

The lead that Lando and Chewie had been following turned out to be a dead end. All their leads turned out as dead ends.

As Leia walked up to the Falcon she saw Luke come flying out of nowhere and sweep her into an unexpected hug which she was glad to return. She hadn't seen him since that dinner nearly two months ago. "I've missed you so much Luke! How did the mission go?"

"It went well. Pretty boring actually. How's she been?" He pulled back and held her at arm length, referencing the baby.

"Of course she has, she's going to be an angel."

"What's her name?" He asked, leaning forward.

Leia gave him a knowing smile. She had a name for the baby but no plans to tell anyone till the she was born. "Good try, Luke."

"Awh, come on, I won't tell anyone." He pleaded.

Leia shook her head as the walked up the ramp of the Falcon and met Chewbacca in the galley. [Ready to get off this ship, Princess?]

"You have no kriffing idea." Leia watched as Luke's eyebrows shot up in surprise. Having grown up on Alderaan, Leia thrived on nature. She missed the grass beneath her feet and actual non-recycled air.

Chewie gave a slight bark of laughter before growling, [Then let's get going. Want to pilot?]

"I wouldn't want to mess anything up. I know how temperamental the Falcon can be and I don't want to-"

[You won't. Besides you've flown it before.] He said, referencing Cloud City.

Leia followed Chewie to the cockpit and she quickly sat in Han's seat, beginning all the standard pre-flight checks.

* * *

The next day Leia walked into the baby store with Luke and Lando. Chewbacca was watching the Falcon as he would draw too much attention.

She did most of the shopping, grabbing everything from baby bottles to a crib, while Luke and Lando walked around looking clueless and overwhelmed at the same time.

There was one horrifying incident where Luke had walked up to Leia and reached into the cart and grabbed something he thought looked interesting.

He held it up and turned to Leia asking, "what's this?"

Lando had whipped around and saw what he was holding and broke into suppressed laughter.

"Leia what is this?" Luke asked, a little concerned now.

Leia's face turned red and she very calmly told Luke, "put that down."

"What is it?" He pulled it close to his face trying to get a different perspective.

"Luke, it's a breast pump." He dropped the pump and quickly walked away from the cart, swearing not to ask more questions.

Luke did help her at the register, though. As there were quite a few things that a seven months pregnant woman should not lift.

The cashier was a little more curious than Leia would have liked, but she understood that she was being nice and probably didn't deal with people on the Empire's Top Ten Most Wanted List everyday.

"What's your guy's names?" She asked.

Leia shot Luke a look. "Lily and Liam Solo." She lied.

"Oh my name's Rose. How long have you two been married?"

Leia said, "We're not married." At the same time Luke said, "two years."

A look of confusion flashed across the cashier's face and Leia shot a look at Luke that very clearly read stay quiet. "Liam is my brother, he's being rather dense at the moment. He's been married to Landon over there for two years." Leia said, gesturing over her shoulder at Lando. "I'm not married." She turned towards Luke. "She asked how long we've been married, Liam." She gestured rather aggressively between the two of them before turning back to the cashier. "Sorry about that."

The cashier decided that she didn't want to ask anymore questions after that.

Once they left were a safe distance from the store Luke turned to Leia. "Why couldn't we be married?" He said it with a whine that Leia had thought she had heard the end of years ago.

"Because I'm in love with Han. So you'll suck it up for today and pretend to be my brother, Liam." Leia said simply before remembering something else. "Oh! And I would like to wish you and Landon luck in your marriage."

* * *

Chewie cooked nerf steaks for dinner once they were in hyperspace and Leia had to admit that it was better then her modified rations she got back on base with the rebellion.

Everything was going well. The music was good, all stuff Leia had heard a thousand times on the way to Bespin, everyone was telling stories and laughing. Until that song came on.

The song that never failed to get Leia to dance with Han. The one that meant a thousand different things to her, all of them good, and all of them led back to Han.

Leia felt a slight tug in the back of her mind and she was suddenly being pulled in a thousand different ways, into a thousand different moments with that song.

Suddenly she was in Han's arms on Yavin. She had looked up and seen the light coming from Alderaan that was thousands of years old. It didn't look any different than any other star in the nighttime sky, but it made her miss it so bad. Han had found her curled up in what she had thought had been a good hiding spot. He hadn't hesitated to walk right towards her sit down and pull her into a hug and let her cry. After a few moments he began to sing. His voice was rough and low but surprisingly good.

She was pulled into another memory before she could register what was happening. Han had pulled her to her feet as soon as the song came on. Demanding that they had to dance to this song, as it was their song. He had led her in what he insisted was a Corellian Waltz, but Leia had danced the Corellian Waltz before and this definitely wasn't it. He leaned down and sang to her.

This time Leia was expecting it when it happened. She was suddenly standing in the same apartment as when she had first noticed her stretch marks. Except she wasn't pregnant this time and the room was sparsely furnished. Han was singing to her, in this completely unabashed yell and she was laughing like she hadn't in a long time, maybe ever. He pulled her close and whispered, "I love you." Before swinging her back out and continuing the dance.

[Princess? Princess?] Chewie questioned, shaking Leia's shoulder. She was back to the present on the Falcon.

Luke looked at Leia with a serious face, "Leia, what was that?"

"I'm sorry, I must have just zoned out."

"No, not that. All the dancing and-"

Leia cut him off. "You saw that?" There was a low serious factor to her voice, dangerous.

Luke shifted obviously uncomfortable. "Yeah."

A panicked look flashed across her face, quickly turning to anger. "Don't do that." She snapped getting up.

"I'm sorry." He didn't know how he'd seen it, but he hadn't done anything.

She didn't answer as she stormed instinctively back to her and Han's cabin, doing everything she could to make her brain feel solely her's again. Leia felt as if someone had entered uninvited and welcomed themselves to private memories, like Vader had.

"It was Luke." She muttered to herself as she slid into the bunk. "Not Vader." She pulled the blankets up to her nose, wrapping herself in Han's smell, trying to think of what he would say to her now.

 _"You're safe, Leia."_ Was something he'd often say when he woke her up from nightmares. Then he'd pull her close, allowing her to bury her face in his chest or neck and just breath for a bit, anchoring herself to the fact she was okay.

Leia laid down and shut her eyes, pretending Han was there with her and that for once she didn't feel alone.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Beginnings

8 ½ months

Leia shifted for the what seemed to be the millionth time in her chair at the high command meeting. She couldn't get comfortable, not that she was really ever comfortable these days.

Mon Mothma kept glancing over at Leia, mildly worried about her. She was trying to wrap up as quickly as she could for the Princess, who looked as if she wanted nothing more than to get out of that room.

Finally, Mon wrapped up and Leia breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

General Rieekan, who had been sitting next to Leia for the duration of the meeting, stood and assisted Leia in pulling out her chair.

Once on her feet, she wavered slightly, a look of pain flickering briefly across her face.

"Your Highness?" Rieekan asked.

"I'm okay, General, just a bit of Braxton hicks. They've been coming and going." She assured him, sounding a bit faint.

He gave her a doubtful look, but nodded.

Mon Mothma broke away from a togruta colonel and approached the pair. "Princess," She interrupted, just as Rieekan was about to begin speaking. "I was just coming over to ask you when are going to begin your maternity leave?"

Another look of pain washed across Leia's face. "When the baby is born."

Mon frowned lightly. "Surely you want more time to prepare."

"Well," Leia began, her brain telling her to snarkily say, _I have had nine months to prepare!_ But she bit her lip and instead replied, "I have had more than enough time and help to be adequately prepared."

The former Senator still did not look convinced and something deep in Leia's core screamed, _get ready!_

Another wave of pain hit her, making her bite the inside of her cheek and ride it out. Leia somehow knew what was about to happen, barely flinching as her water broke. Her only reaction was the stream of Corellian curses that fell out of her mouth, causing raised eyebrows and scandalized looks around the room.

This time Rieekan did not sit ideally by, telling someone to call the Medical Bay, that Princess Leia was in labor.

* * *

Leia had just gotten settled into her room and was in the middle of a contraction when Luke and Chewie began knocking on the door.

"Come in," she allowed through clenched teeth, giving them both a stiff smile as she rode out the rest of her contraction.

Luke crossed the room in three concerned steps. "Leia how are you feeling?" He questioned.

"Like I'm in labor." She answered flatly. "Why are you in that awful flight suit?" She leaned back, her contraction fading, allowing her to exist in a brief moment of not quite peace.

Luke glanced down, seemingly just now realizing that he was wearing the bright orange monstrosity, and shrugged. "I had just gotten off duty when they commed me that you are in labor."

"Well labor takes a long time, go change." She ordered.

"But-," he tried.

"No, I will not introduce my daughter to you while you are wearing that suit. Go change."

Luke gave up, knowing that there was no reason to argue. He leaned forward and gave her a brotherly kiss on her forehead and left.

Chewie came up next to Leia and sat down in the chair. [Princess it's time I told you something.]

Unreasonable fear spiked through Leia. "Yes."

[I'm sorry for Han not being here.] He began nervously, as if he hadn't practiced this in his head a thousand times. Always wishing that they would find Han before it got to this point. [Lando and I have done everything we can so far and I promise you we will continue to do so until we find him. Princess, he would love to be here. Han would be sitting in this chair, telling you stupid stories and doing everything he could for you because he chose you. He chose to love you more than he had ever loved anyone and he'll love the cub just as much. That's why I have to tell you that even if something happens and we never find Han, I'll always be there for you.]

Leia had tears in her eyes truly touched by the wookiee. "Chewie, I couldn't ask you to do that."

[You're his mate. She's his child. And more than that I love you, Princess, like how I love Cub.]

"I love you too, Chewie." She whispered, forever grateful for the Wookiee.

* * *

Leia's contractions only got worse as time went on. Currently she was leaned forward, suffering through a particularly nasty one when Luke, who was now in more suitable clothes, tried to rub her back.

"Don't touch me!" Leia snapped, clenching her fists and muttering a quiet, "sorry."

Luke help up his hands unphased, aware that it was the pain, and waited until her contraction was over to begin talking. "Can you tell us her name now?"

"You'll find out soon enough." She said tiredly.

"Come on Leia please. Just give us anything." He pleaded.

Leia sighed, giving in a little. "Her last name is Solo."

"Just Solo? No Organa?"

"Nope."

Luke nodded his head, content for the moment, when the Dr. Randar came in.

"Okay boys, out of the room. I think it's time to start pushing."

* * *

Leia fell back on the bed exhausted and listened as her baby let out her first cry. A scared sound that she instantly wanted to soothe.

Doctor Randar approached her side and began talking, she was only hearing bits of what the doctor was saying. "-baby girl. -healthy. -hold her?"

Leia nodded to the last one, sitting up slowly and holding out her arms out. She gasped as she saw her baby, love swelling in her like nothing she had ever felt. She had loved the baby before then, she had felt pride swell up at her first kicks and dealt with middle of the night hiccups, but nothing compared to now. She had heard her mother tell her about the first time she saw her when she was younger, but she really didn't understand until then.

Dr. Randar set the baby down in her arms and Leia pulled her close. She was so small, relying fully on Leia for everything. Something that simultaneously terrified her and brought her joy. "I already love you so much." Leia stopped as a small sob escaped her mouth and she leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her forhead. "Welcome to the galaxy, Jaina Solo."

* * *

Luke and Chewie stepped quietly into the room, greeted by the sight of a mother staring lovingly at her daughter.

Jaina had a surprising amount of light brown hair, the exact same shade of Han's with his hazel eyes. Everything else was Leia's. Her nose, her mouth, everything.

"Hey." Luke said in what was barely more than a whisper.

Leia glanced up slowly, not wanting to look away from Jaina for even a moment. She looked exhausted, but happier than Luke had ever seen her. "Hey."

He walked over to stand by her shoulder. "She's gorgeous, Leia."

"She is isn't she." It wasn't a question and the tired smile on her face grew. "Want to hold her?"

A panicked look flashed over Luke's face. Having grown up on Tatooine he was never really around babies and when he was he didn't hold them.

Leia laughed quietly. "Pull up the chair and sit down."

Luke followed her instructions and she leaned towards him, cautiously holding Jaina out. "Just make sure to support her head and have a hand on her back. There you go, that's it just stay there." She left a supporting hand on the baby's back until she was sure he had her, slowly removing it until Luke was holding her on his own.

He looked down at the baby in wonder. She had stayed asleep that whole time. "What's her name?"

"Jaina Solo."

"Jaina." He cooed towards the sleeping baby, slowly relaxing. "I'm your Uncle Luke." He glanced up at Leia with a goofy smile on his face. "Her name's perfect."

She tilted her head tiredly. "Her name was going to be Breha, after mother, but when I saw her..." She trailed off shaking her head. "Jaina Solo just seemed to fit."

Luke nodded softly in agreement.

Chewie stepped forward, [Can I hold her?] He asked as softly as he could.

"Of course. You're her Uncle Chewie." Leia answered.

Luke looked daunted at the prospect of handing over the baby, but he persevered and Jaina found herself in the arms of her Uncle Chewie.

[She's amazing, Princess. Han is going to love her so much.]

The baby suddenly opened her eyes and Leia instinctively leaned forward, expecting her to cry, but found herself pleasantly surprised when she closed her eyes again. Perfectly content in the wookiee's arms.

"I wish he was here." She whispered.

[We all do.]

* * *

Leia was able to return to her cabin, more her and Jaina's now, the next day.

She dropped her diaper bag in the small kitchen and went to her bed, sitting down with the baby in her arms.

So far she seemed to be a good baby. She didn't fuss a whole lot and was okay being passed around. She could sleep through anything, but right now she was wide awake and staring at Leia expectantly.

She offered her baby a small smile and wondered what she wanted. "How about we try to sleep, Mommy really needs a nap."

The baby sat there unmoving. Leia honestly didn't know what she expected.

"Do you want your Daddy?" She asked. "I know that I wish he was here, but he's a bit held up right now. You see when I met your Dad he was in a bit of trouble with this really mean Hutt." Leia wrinkled her nose at the baby, trying to stay animated to keep her interested. "So while I was pregnant with you they caught him. Don't worry, though, Uncle Chewie and Uncle Lando are looking for him. He's going to be back real soon. Your father once promised me that he would come find us even if he had to face a thousand obstacles to get to us, he would find us. He couldn't leave after Yavin and we've got to believe that he can't leave now. He'll always come back to us. He'll love you so much, Jaina, you don't even know."


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you to all my guest reviewers who I can't thank personally!

* * *

Chapter 8

Motherhood

3 months post birth

"-the information we are getting from our Bothan spies is very valuable." Mon Mothma droned on. Even though she was in the middle of a high command meeting Leia was facing away from the table, her datapad in her lap, so she could watch Jaina on the floor.

She had turned out to be a very happy baby who loved everyone and everything.

"Yes, but do you not think that it would be wiser to keep our troops on Sullust, even moving more there if neccessary." Leia interjected. "We all know that there is a confrontation coming there. It is better that we be prepared."

Jaina let out a little shriek at the sound of her mother's voice, it wasn't a cry, just something to get Leia's attention, a trick that she had recently learned worked rather well. The Princess promptly stood up and went to pick her up and remained standing, resting the baby's back against her stomach so she could see everyone.

"You have surely heard Princess of the rumored Death Star stirring in the outer rim. We should pull our troops out of Sullust, so we have time to prepare for another, bigger battle." Leia turned slightly and saw it was a general who had recently been stationed on Home One, she had yet to learn his name.

"We have more than enough troops to be prepared for two battles. We have done it before. I understand your worry following our defeat at the Battle of Hoth, but we have to stop tucking our tail between our legs and running every time there could be a slightly major confrontation with the Empire. We are not going to win this war without fighting back." She said confidently, unconsciously beginning to rock side to side to keep Jaina content.

"Why don't we save our troops for one major battle then?" It was the same General.

Jaina let out another little shriek and when Leia looked down to check on her daughter she got a big smile from the baby and continued to look down as if she were talking to her, turning the baby in her arms. "Not only would a major loss like that lead to lower troop morale, and likely quite a few deserters, it would be a bad strategy. A major loss like that would put us in the same desperate position we were in before Yavin."

The General's face turned a horrid face of red and he lashed out. "Why would this rebellion," he growled, "need to take advice from a _Princess_ , who was stupid enough to get herself knocked up in the middle of a war."

Leia raised her eyebrows lightly, she had heard worse, "you say princess as if it's a bad thing." She chose to ignore the second part, letting the general know to leave her baby out of this.

"Hell," he began, "the guy wasn't even good enough to stay around."

She clenched her teeth and took a step forward handing Jaina to Rieekan, who was glad to hold the baby. "The circumstances that surround the absence of her father were not his choice and have nothing to do with this meeting." She concluded, her eyes dangerous.

Mon Mothma decided to finally intrude. "General Tullen, the Princess is correct, that is a personal matter that has no place in this meeting. Deploy five hundred more troops to Sullust and tell the troops that are currently stationed there to hold their position and to not make any moves that will reveal themselves to the Empire. We still hold the advantage of surprise there and we do not want to waste it." Mon stopped and glanced down at her datapad. "That seems to be all on the agenda for today. Everyone is dismissed except for General Tullen, please come see me in my office." She shot a quick look at Leia, thanking her for handling that well.

Leia took Jaina back from Rieekan and kissed her on the nose. "Hey, Sweetheart." She crooned, smiling brightly. "Thank you for being so very good today." She dropped her voice a bit and sped up at the end, earning herself a gummy smile. "How about we go home?" She asked, already out the door.

* * *

Leia sat Jaina down in her crib to entertain herself for a moment while she went to grab a few holos.

"Jaina, wanna see the holos of Dada?" She asked the baby.

She got a little coo from her daughter and took that as an okay as she scooped her back up. "This is him sitting in the cockpit of the Falcon and this one is him and I dancing on Hoth." She held them up for Jaina to see and got a little smile from her daughter. "Yeah, he's really handsome, I know." She informed her seriously, "you have his hair and eyes."

Her comm started to go off in the corner with the codes from the Falcon. She quickly crossed the room and answered. "Hey Chewie, how's it going?"

[We have all the information we need. He's being held at Jabba's Palace on Tatooine. Boba Fett dropped him off two weeks ago. We are ready to move in.] He said getting quickly to the point.

Leia's heart jumped into her throat. "Okay, Chewie. Begin phase one. I'll meet you there in one week." Phase one was to get someone into the palace, working there and getting the lay of the land.

[No you will not, Princess, you have the little cub to look after.] He barked roughly.

"Chewie, you know as well as I do that Evaan and Rieekan are ready to watch her at a moment's notice." She argued, wanting to be there when he was released from the carbonite, to be the first person he heard when he woke up.

[No, you are staying there with the baby. Anyway, if you arrived on Tatooine, Jabba would find out and our cover would be blown.]

Leia let out a frustrated sigh, she knew he was right and the thought of leaving Jaina for an extended period of time broke her heart.

Chewbacca knew he had won. [Alright, Princess, this is it, we'll be back with Han in a month and a half.]

"May the force be with you, Chewie… Bring him home." She pleaded.

[We will, Princess.] And the line went dead.

Leia dropped the comm and walked over to pick Jaina up out of the crib. "We'll have Daddy back soon, Sweetheart. I miss him so much."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I'm so sorry for not posting in so long. My dad is in the military and we are in the middle of yet another move, so life has been insane.

* * *

Chapter 9

Opia

4 months post birth

Leia was sitting criss-cross on her bed, something that she had missed while she was pregnant, with her datapad in her lap. Her eyes flitting back and forth between her work and Jaina, who was repeatedly pushing herself up into an army crawl position before falling back down and laughing.

Leia smiled at the sight, tempted to put the datapad down and join the baby on the floor. It would surely be more interesting than continuing to read about the deterioration of Naboo since the Empire was born and taking mental notes on the planet's economy.

She clucked her tongue lightly as her comm went off and Jaina shrieked gleefully at the noise. Leia reached quickly for the comm, she didn't recognize the codes and seriously considered ignoring it, but something told her she wanted to answer.

"General Organa." She said quickly.

"Hello, General, this is Ensign Bruin. You requested to be commed when-" the voice paused and she heard voices talking in the back ground before another voice took over.

"Princess, this is Rieekan."

Leia hesitated, instantly sitting up straighter and preparing for the worst. "What's the problem?" She asked, Rieekan would only take over the call if something bad had happened.

"Nothing is wrong, your Highness. You put in a request to be notified when the Millennium Falcon docked and the ensign was just calling to inform you."

Her heart leapt into her throat. "When will they be here?" _He's here. He's here. He's here,_ was all she could think.

"They will dock in fifteen minutes."

 _He's almost here,_ her brain amended.

Leia remained silent for a moment, not sure how exactly to react with the suddenness of their arrival. She had believed that Chewbacca or Lando would comm her to inform her they'd gotten him. "Carlist?" She asked, dropping formalities at the request she was about to make.

"I can take care of Jaina if you need." He offered, his voice slightly hopeful.

She nodded for a minute before answering, "please."

"I'll be there in five minutes."

"Thank you." Leia hung up and reached over to pick up Jaina, setting her in her lap and brushing through a bit of the baby's hair with her fingers. "Today's the day, Jay. You ready to meet your Dad?"

She got a stream of happy babbles back. "Really?" She asked. "I'm that excited, too."

Leia stood and walked over to the door, stepping out in the hallway in time to see Rieekan jog around the corner. "Okay, Jay, you're going to go have fun with Uncle Rieekan." She placed a quick kiss on Jaina's forehead, shot a quick, "thank you," to Rieekan and took off towards the hangar.

* * *

Leia came sprinting around the corner into the hangar, crashing into Wedge Antilles and barely registering his surprised, "hey!" Before pushing past him and continuing on.

Her eyes searched relentlessly for the Falcon, finding it in the far left hand corner, it's boarding ramp yet to lower.

She stood frozen in her place. She felt overwhelmed and everything in her screamed that this couldn't be real. It was too good.

Leia felt someone lay a hand on her shoulder, startling her back to reality. "Princess," it was Mon Mothma, "are you okay?"

She nodded her head lightly. The ramp had begun its descent. A million thoughts raced through her head. _Han's here. He's going to meet Jaina. Is he okay?_

First, came out Lando, who quickly found Leia and gave her a small nod. They had found him. Han was here.

Leia let out a little sobbing laugh. Han was here, on the same ship as her, the same ship as his daughter, and she couldn't move. She was stuck in place.

She had imagined this moment a thousand times. In all of those she had been the one to let him out. In all of those she was actually able to will herself to move so she was actually able to get to him.

Finally, her legs began to listen to her and she was able to start walking towards the Falcon, stopping at the base of the ramp.

"I'm fine, Chewie, I don't need to see any doctors, I just want to go see Leia." He had his back to the ramp and Leia took a moment to just drink in his presence.

His voice was loud and strong, as if it hadn't gone unused for a year. He was wearing nearly the same outfit as he was when he was frozen, except for the shirt.

"Well then turn around, flyboy." Leia was surprised when she found her own voice.

Han turned around with his trademark lopsided grin. "Hey, your worshipfulness." His hair was a mess, but when wasn't it, and a bit longer than she remembered. His eyes had turned that lovely shade of light green that indicated he was really happy, his smile transformed into that grin that looked too big for his face. As Leia drank all this in something deep in her relaxed for the first time in over a year and she smiled genuinely.

Finally, months of missing him hit her and she moved forward into Han's arms, kissing him for the first time in a year.


End file.
